


I’ve always preferred Athens

by Hedwig_Dordt



Category: British Actor RPF, RPF - Fandom, the witcher rpf
Genre: Getting Together, Kissing, M/M, Music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22335904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hedwig_Dordt/pseuds/Hedwig_Dordt
Summary: We know what happened: at the London premiere, Joey Batey was feeling overwhelmed and snuck out to play the piano for a bit. Henry Cavill went and found him, and sat down to hear him play.What follows here is my fevered imagination.
Relationships: henry cavill/joey batey
Comments: 37
Kudos: 188





	I’ve always preferred Athens

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a gif set of Joey telling the story: https://starksrh.tumblr.com/post/190125312031/i-found-a-small-room-and-there-was-a-piano-i 
> 
> With deep deep gratitude to [incredifishface](incredifishface.tumlr.com) aka [ the bookhunter ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebookhunter) and  
[Maltypass](maltypass.tumblr.com) for cheerleading, beta reading, and britpicking. 
> 
> Any remaining flaws are entirely my own.
> 
> Mandatory disclaimers: I do not know anything of the sexual and/or romantic orientation of the people involved. If you got here through a vanity search and/or professionally: please backspace now and forget you ever saw it.

It’s premiere night, London edition. Henry surveys the crowd gathered to celebrate The Witcher with them. He campaigned hard to get the part of Geralt of Rivia and he’s excited to see the reception, as any nerd worth his (or her!) salt would be. It’s always a great feeling when something you worked on - with a lot of other great people - is launched, ready to be shared with the world. And yet, amidst all the celebration, something nags at him. There is something amiss with the party. And then he realises: he can’t find Joey. 

When he found out he got the part, he started looking up the other cast members, to get a feel for what they might bring. Of course they would look for someone with basic music skills to play Jaskier, the annoying, but fun bard. They had managed to find someone who not only managed to acquire a lute, could play it, and moreover: could set things to music for it. He had gone and listened to some of the guy’s stuff, mostly so as to avoid saying offensive things, and to have something to give him shit for between takes. 

Henry is used to attractive people: he lives and works in London and LA, which are both basically hubs of ambitiously beautiful people. Nevertheless, Joey Batey in eyeliner and a wet t-shirt was a stark reminder that under the right circumstances, men do it for him. He immediately determined to be a professional about it. He had worked too hard to get on the show to jeopardise the project by sexually harassing a colleague, no matter how blue his eyes. 

Leaving the party feels like sneaking out, but he tells himself a) he’s put in the time with photographers and execs, so he’s free to do what he wants, and b) looking for a co-star who mysteriously went missing is the right thing to do. It’s what _ Geralt _would do. Now the question is, where did Joey go? 

He never tried to deny to himself, or anyone else for that matter, he developed an admiration for Joey. He sang, pun not intended, his praises on the red carpet just a few hours ago. Professional admiration, he kept reminding himself, nothing else. It was a delight to work with someone who allowed you to do more with less. They had improvised together so that they could bring the Geralt and Jaskier dynamic to life in a way that felt natural. He infused a reluctant appreciation, affection even into his performance. Any lingering affection he felt, he wrote off as character bleed, and ignored it resolutely. He reminded himself that the fact that he liked hearing Joey play, and loved his take on Jaskier, was part of being a professional. The fact that they had bonded over the books was maybe a bit more than that, but well within the parameters of friendship. ‘Sense of humour’ had been his standard ‘what do you look for in a woman or partner for years - but that doesn’t mean he is in love with a man who can make him laugh. His admiration for Joey’s hands was appreciation for a skill set that he had. His appreciation for his beauty he writes off as part of knowing the work that goes into maintaining it. He might have developed a sense for where Joey was when he was around. The same sense that insisted he was missing now. 

He tells himself it is not weird, he just needs a bit of quiet for a moment or two. He channels Napoleon Solo, looking over his shoulder to make sure nobody at the party sees him leave. When he deems it clear, he returns to the entrance hall which also connects to a smaller passageway. Joey is good with people as a rule, but he had seemed tense earlier. Perhaps, Henry reasons, he’d gone somewhere quieter. A small room, with a fireplace, a couch and a rug. He hears a few soft notes from a piano sing through the corridor. He smiles and follows the sound.

He tries not to draw conclusions from the fact that he recognises Joey’s musical handwriting. Henry doesn’t recognise the piece, though that’s not much of a surprise: he has never been deeply involved with music. He walks down the corridor as quietly as he can until he finds the room where the music is coming from. He walks down the corridor, and finds a door ajar. Inside, Joey is sitting with his back to the door, singing softly as he plays. He’s in his waistcoat, his long jacket next to him on the piano stool. Henry leans against the doorway to drink in the sight. 

The music changes, and now Henry recognises the piece as something he’s heard Joey play before. It is melancholic, bittersweet, and deeply moving. He takes a deep breath to fight the sting in his eye. He forces himself to calm down, and just let himself enjoy this moment, drinking in Joey’s competence, the pleasure he obviously takes in the music. It brings back every quiet moment between them over the last moments. The realisation overtakes him that what he feels is not character bleed. If anything, his affection for Joey might have bled into his performance. He is suddenly acutely aware of every inch between them. Joey ends the song with a little flourish, his hands hovering over the keys and for a moment Henry sees it; the spell broken, the awkward bulk of him leering from the threshold. Instead, Joey starts the next piece, trying the opening bars a few times in different ways, clearly trying to get it right. When he has the opening figured out, he gets into it. Henry knows the proud smile that must be playing around the corner of Joey’s mouth by now. He finds himself smiling back - Joey does seems to have that effect on him. He wants to hear what comes next - another effect Joey seems to have on him. He tiptoes inside as softly as he can, and sits down next to him. 

“How long have you been standing there?” Joey asks without turning around, his hands still playing. 

“I don’t know,” Henry says honestly. 

Joey keeps his eyes on the keys, the music keeps flowing, and Henry realises he really doesn’t want this to be over. He wants more - he wants everything. He wants to know the name of the piece, he wants to know why Joey chose it, he wants to keep Joey by his side. As a rule, he knows how to do this, how to charm, flash his dimples, raise an eyebrow, use his voice so that generally people will prove receptive to his advances. But he doesn’t want that exactly. He wants to be chased in return. 

“You found me,” Joey observes. 

“I missed you.” He realises it’s more true then he’d realised.

Joey stops playing, the last note hangs hangs in the air between them and turns towards him.

“You came for _ me _.” He seems confused, and maybe a little hopeful. 

Henry smiles as he leans towards Joey, trying to telegraph his invitation. He holds Joey’s gaze, allowing the tension to rise, hoping that he is willing to close the distance. He lowers his eyes for a moment, his heart beating fast. A second, an eternity later, Joey’s mouth is on his. 

They are badly aligned for this, but there is hunger, they both want this to happen- or so he thought. It’s just a quick brush of lips before Joey retreats. 

“Did that just happen?” Joey asks, wide-eyed. 

Henry swallows a moment of disappointment, looks up, flashes a smile: “Yes it did. We did.” 

“I didn’t… read that wrong, did I?”

“No, you didn’t.”

“You… you let me kiss you.” Joey seems stunned.

His lips a little open, Henry notices. “I’d do it again,” Henry says, and again and again, he adds mentally though he doesn’t dare say that quite yet. 

“Good,” Joey says, and leans in to kiss him again. This time he doesn’t stop - he slips his tongue into Henry’s mouth. Henry lets him in, enjoying the taste of him, almost delirious with relief. Joey slides a hand underneath his jacket, and Henry lets out a soft moan. He mirrors the movement, stroking down Joey’s arm and then tangling their fingers together. Joey strokes downward across his chest, down again too, and then gasps when he feels a hand over his cock. Oh god, he is ridiculously hard. Joey breaks the kiss. 

“Too much?” Joey asks, looking at him with a trace of worry. He looks… well-snogged.

Henry’s rational brain is starting to come back online trying to parse the question. “No, definitely not too much,” he says emphatically. He wonders how it is that, though they only did this a few moments ago, it’s as if the whole world has shifted around him, realigning itself around Joey’s mouth… He feels overwhelmed and a little self-conscious. “There’s no way I can go back in like this though,” he tries for a funny tone. 

Joey grins at him. “Can it wait?”

“Can what wait?” Henry blinks in confusion. 

“The party - or getting off, for that matter. I enjoyed this kissing a lot. I can finish this fast so you can go back to the party.” While Henry considers how to reply to that, Joey continues: “Hey, this isn’t your way of coping with end of season sadness?”

“You mean making out with someone? Or sneaking out from a party? No, not really.” He looks back up at Joey’s face, “You”? 

“Definitely. I make a point of snogging as many of my cast mates as I can.” Joey looks at him with the innocent smile that definitely means he is mocking him. 

“How do I stack up?” 

“Aaand there’s the competitive edge I know and love.” 

“I’m sorry, I might be a bit rusty in that department.”Henry feels his cheeks warm. 

“Red suits you,”Joey teases, causing Henry to blush even deeper. “Should I just put you out of your misery and promise if you take me out to dinner tomorrow, you will definitely get some.” Joey lifts an eyebrow, and suddenly Henry knows why that has worked for him so well in the past. 

“I would like that,” he says, “a lot. Yes, please. To all of it.” He knows just the spot, close to his place. He flushes again when he realises what he has to look forward to. Joey is still grinning and extends his hand. They shake on it. Henry uses that leverage to draw them back together and kisses him again, slowly and deeply. He allows himself to take in Joey’s scent, the warmth of Joey underneath his hands before he breaks it off again. 

He sees Joey’s expression change as Joey clearly is having a revelation. Henry is suddenly worried he messed up somehow. 

“I just kissed Superman,” Joey says and he starts to giggle. 

Henry chuckles with relief. “We should probably head back,” Henry says, “people will be looking for us.”

“You, they’ll be looking for you. I’m mostly comic relief.”

“Not much relief.”

“Are you calling me a tease, Mr. Cavill?” 

“You’re a terrible person.”

“For that, you’re only getting a five minute head start to get back into the party. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Henry gets up reluctantly, tries to adjust himself. He is thirty-six, he can stand to wait to come for a bit. 

“I look forward to dessert,”Joey calls after him as he leaves. Henry begs off before he can change his mind. As he walks back, he tries to school his features into his professional smile. “It’s a pleasure to work with such a great crew,” he rehearses under his breath, “such a labour of love for everyone involved.” He grins, labour of love indeed. It might have seeped in a little deeper than he originally intended. He hears Joey turning back to the piano. As he walks down the corridor, he just catches the first lines of the song, that he will later learn is actually the chorus: 

“Never felt this way about loving  
Never felt so good  
Never felt this way about loving  
Never felt so good  


**Author's Note:**

> The song is Brian McKnight's Never Felt This Way.
> 
> If you enjoyed it, consider reblogging it on tumblr (https://hedwig-dordt.tumblr.com/post/190366954592/ive-always-preferred-athens-archive-of)


End file.
